Brett Goldstein will become new director of the Defense Digital Service (DDS) as Chris Lynch departs from the position, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced today.
Lynch became DDS director as the team was founded as a component of the U.S. Digital Service under the Obama administration in 2014. Lynch’s term ends in May, and in the announcement of his departure, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan spoke about Lynch’s successes in the position.
“Under the leadership of Chris Lynch, DDS has hacked the bureaucracy to strengthen our national security and improve the lives of service members and their families,” Shanahan said. “Although we will miss Chris, the unique startup culture he built and the talented team he recruited will continue to disrupt and transform technology at the DoD.”
Shanahan continued by celebrating the rise of Goldstein into the director role, praising his experience both in the public and industry spheres of work as valuable assets.
“We are excited for Brett to be taking on the role of director to build and expand the team and its work,” Shanahan said. “His public and private sector knowledge, technical expertise, and commitment to improving government through technology will be invaluable to a range of critical missions across the department.”
In serving as director, Goldstein will focus on continuing DDS’s effort to recruit from the private sector and try to empower personnel and service members within the department, DDS said, echoing Shanahan’s comments that Goldstein “was selected for his diverse leadership and experience and technical expertise, which range from enterprise systems and architecture to deep knowledge of data science and cybersecurity, which will be among his early priorities at the department.”
More specifically, Goldstein has worked at OpenTable and the Chicago Police Department before becoming the country’s first municipal chief data officer in Chicago. He later became the city’s CIO and founded a venture capital fund to cultivate tech startups that work toward addressing urban problems.